A great way to become more efficient in Libronix is by using keyboard shortcuts. We’ve compiled a nearly exhaustive list of keyboard shortcuts to help you learn them. Here are a few:

Ctrl+L opens My Library.

Ctrl+Shift+G activates the Quick Navigation Bar.

Tab or Ctrl+G activates the text box in a resource, which you can use to jump to a reference or page.

Ctrl+Shift+W closes all windows.

Ctrl+F4 or Ctrl+W closes the active window.

Ctrl+Shift+C opens the contents pane.

The right arrow key takes you to the next resource in a resource association. Try it when you have an English Bible opened.

The best way to make these shortcuts a part of your normal use of Libronix is to go through the list and try each one. Pick a handful that you find especially helpful and start using them immediately.
In addition to the standard shortcuts, you can also create your own shortcuts for many of your favorite activities like opening a resource and applying a visual markup. Here are some examples of things I do with shortcut keys:

Alt+A opens my Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary.

Alt+D opens my default English dictionary.

Alt+T opens my Thesaurus.

Alt+E opens the ESV.

Alt+G opens my Greek New Testament.

Alt+H opens my Hebrew Old Testament.

Alt+N opens the New American Commentary to the passage I’m working on (if applicable).

Alt+W opens the Word Biblical Commentary to the passage I’m working on (if applicable).

Alt+B applies my blue highlighter.

Alt+R applies my red highlighter.

Alt+Y applies my yellow highlighter.

Alt+Z erases my highlighting or other markups.

You can assign keyboard shortcuts like these by creating a custom toolbar. I’ll get you started by showing you how to create shortcuts to open resources.

Open Libronix.

Right click on the toolbar area and click on Customize.

Click New to create a new toolbar.

Leave the Category as Special, and click on Open (Resource).

Click Add, give it a name like Shortcuts, and then click on Details.

Give it a name like ESV, select a style and icon, and assign a shortcut key (e.g., Alt+E).

Click Change and select the resource you would like to open with your shortcut.

Click OK, OK, and Close.

Repeat this process to add other resources.

Feel free to hide your new toolbar by right clicking in the toolbar area and unchecking it. It doesn’t need to be visible to be active.
Here’s a brief video walking you through the steps.
Give it a try!
For other tips on being more efficient, check out our previous post on Mouse Gestures.

Users often ask if there is a way to change the English font in Libronix. The default font is Times New Roman. If you’re like me, you have another font that you prefer. While it’s not a standard option, it is fairly easy to change your English font.
Here are the steps you will need to take:

Open Libronix.

Right click on the toolbar area and click on Customize.

Click New to create a new toolbar.

Leave the Category as Special, and click on Run Script Code.

Click Add, give it a name like Change Font, and then click on Details.

If you want, give it a name, select a style and icon, and assign a shortcut key.

That’s it. Your new font should now display. To change your font back, just edit your script code and insert Times New Roman. Create as many buttons on your new toolbar as you’d like. I choose to hide my toolbar after executing the script so that it’s not taking up toolbar space.
One caution: not all English fonts support the full range of characters used in Libronix. If you see boxes or other weird shapes, you’ve probably picked a font that’s lacking some necessary characters.
Here’s a brief video walking you through the 10 steps.
Note: you may need to view this post on a separate page to get all of the script code. Click the 06:00 AM below to do so.

Since it’s Thanksgiving Day here in the U.S., I thought I’d do a little analysis of the primary thanksgiving word in Greek New Testament, the verb εὐχαριστέω, which means “thank, gives thanks to.” I’m primarily interested in getting an overview of the biblical data rather than reading what others have to say about it in lexicons and theological dictionaries (which is very valuable, but not my interest for now). So I open the Bible Word Study report, type in εὐχαριστέω, and let it do its thing.
If your Greek knowledge is limited but you want to run the report based on the Greek text rather than the English, Logos Bible Software makes that easy with the reverse interlinears. Start with the Bible Speed Search, select the ESV (or NRSV) English-Greek Reverse Interlinear New Testament from the drop down box, and type thank in the search box. You’ll get 56 hits in 53 verses. Click the reference for Matt 15:36, the second one in the list. It will open the text of the ESV NT Reverse Interlinear to the proper location. Locate the word thanks, right click it, and select Bible Word Study: “ευχαριστεω” from the list of options.
Once the report finishes, we’re given a wealth of data to examine. My interest for now is in the Grammatical Relationships section, where I can quickly find answers to questions like:

Who gives thanks?

Who receives thanks?

What is thanks given for?

This section is incredibly helpful for quickly getting the big picture of a theme in the NT. As I look over the data, I immediately notice some noteworthy patterns in the Complements section, particularly some things that stand out to me because of my current study of the Trinity.

Of the 23 complements or objects of the verb (i.e., who is being thanked), they are nearly all God. The only human objects are Prisca and Aquila (Rom 16:3). The rest of the references are God—and arguably, God the Father. (Jesus is the object one time [Lk 17:16].) I realize that God can refer to the Triune God, but the contexts and general pattern suggest that the Father is in view.
Here are the data:
Thanks is given to

So what significance does this have as we give thanks to God today (or any day)? It gives us guidance on how we are to think about and interact with our Triune God. These patterns are descriptive, and not necessarily prescriptive of whom we shouldn’t give thanks to. (The fact that we don’t find numerous references about giving thanks to Jesus or the Spirit doesn’t necessarily mean it is inappropriate to do so.) Nevertheless, these data must be the starting point for any biblical theology of giving thanks to God.
Perhaps a more devotional exercise is to reflect upon the Adjuncts section, where we find out that thanks is given

Those who frequently visit the Logos training videos webpage may have noticed several tags next to certain links. That’s because John Fallahee of Logos’ Ministry Relations department just added 13 new videos to our ever-expanding collection of free training content.

One thing I personally enjoy about the training videos is the context they give to the use of a tool. In the same way a trained mathematician uses the proper formulas to solve an equation, using the correct tools in Libronix can greatly expedite your study. You will be able to achieve your desired result more quickly if you know how to use all the tools at your disposal.

Maybe you’re interested in where BDAG has cited a particular section of BDF? You could use this same trick. As an example, BDF §260 has to do with how the article is used with personal names. Want to know where BDAG cites or points to this section? Search BDAG for “bdf in 260”.

Maybe you want to see where BDF has referenced Ignatius to Polycarp. You can do the same search the video demonstrates, only do it in BDF: “af in ipol”.

I was hanging out with some Logos users at Camp Logos II, held here in Bellingham on August 27-28, when my friend and colleague Johnny asked me about ways to emulate a “Reader’s Greek New Testament” inside of Logos. Johnny is always working on his Greek (and Hebrew) skills as he’s pursuing a Masters degree up at Regent College. He wanted to read the Greek NT but only have glosses available for words (lemmas) that occur less than, say, 20 times in the Greek NT.
There is a way to do this, but you might not think of it. It involves paring down your Exegetical Guide preferences and also using the chain link to link your Exegetical Guide with the Greek New Testament.
Don’t worry, I recorded a video to explain how you can do this too. Check it out.

I was working my way through the first portion of 1Ti 6.10 the other day. This is the well-known clause, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils” (1Ti 6.10a, ESV).

I was specifically looking at “… of all kinds of evils”, and had some ideas on how to use syntax searching to help me examine that portion of the verse. It was too much to write down; at almost 15 minutes it was nearly too long for a video (I ramble a bit at the end, though).

Vincent’s post about mapping outand harmonizing all the variousbook-chapter-verse schemes for the Bible has sparked some great discussion among other bloggers. Here are a few selections; click through on the links to read the complete posts at each site…

ESV Bible Blog – “They plan to use the data in the next version of their software to allow for a ‘higher degree of precision when it comes to Bible navigation, comparing Bible versions and viewing them in parallel, and Bible reference tagging.’ The amount of effort put into this project boggles the mind.”

The folks at Crossway also point to a series of posts by blogger Ben C. Smith, who is working his way through a detailed description of thevarious canonical lists assembled by the early church. Interesting stuff which has a bearing on the Bible we read today.

“Most people know that the chapter and verse divisions of the Bible aren’t part of the original text. Many people may not know that the versification of all Bibles is not the same. For example, if you look up a psalm in the Septuagint, it might have a different number than it does in the English Bibles. It is a very complicated situation. Particularly if your Bibles are digital.”

I’m sure Vincent would concur with this assessment. He’s been looking a little wrung out lately, and could probably use a care package. :-)

In a post entitled “Here’s Why I Believe in Logos Bible Software” (we appreciate the vote of confidence but would direct such praise to the One who truly deserves it), Benjamin Janssen writes,

“There are many good reasons why any serious Bible student should invest in, learn, and use Logos Bible Software. But here’s the best reason I can think of: the company is dedicated to getting it right. This is a Bible study software that I am confident will always be on the cutting edge of research and analysis without compromising quality, even down to chapter and verse divisions.”

We do work hard to stay at the cutting edge of Bible technology,and are taking steps topromote a healthy “give and take” with others in the industry.The BibleTech 2008 conferencein January will be a great opportunity for all those who work at the intersection of Bible and technology to share best practices and spur one another on to even greater levels of excellence.

If things like XML versification maps get you excited, you definitely need to be at the conference!

Sometimes we take for granted the goodness of electronic publishing. But some people still wonder why an author or a publisher would choose to put out an electronic edition of their work.

Dr. Robert Lowery, seminary professor, dean, and author of Revelation’s Rhapsody, was recently asked why he chose to publish his first book both electronically (with Logos)and in print (with College Press).

Dr. Lowery shared his answer to this question on his blog…which he has generously allowedus to reprint as a case study on Logos.com.

My favorite quotes:

Simply put, Logos is the world’s biggest developer of Bible software, and if I believe that my book will behelpful to people, I want to reach as many as possible.

And:

How many of the readers of my book will actually look up all of the Scripture references? If they choose not to do so, my book will not be as helpful as I desire. How many will actually turn to the back of the book and read the footnotes, notes that I believe are as helpful as the text itself?! In the electronic edition, notes and Scripture referencesare quickly available, just a mouse hover away.

I find it interesting to read an author’s perspective on electronic publishing and see how his priorities align with ours: get the book into the most hands possible and help readers get more out of the book.

But it only makes sense: labor-intensive details such as footnotes and Scripture references represent hours of wastedeffort…unless readers actually use them! And making these features easy to use is one of the great strengths of Logos Bible Software.

The story goes around, and I want to believe this is apocryphal, that in 1551 Stephanus added verse divisions into his Greek Bible for the first time while riding a horse. You see, when we run into verse boundaries that awkwardly divide or join sentences, we are to blame the horse.
Most of us are probably aware that the original manuscripts and early copies of the books of the Bible did not have chapter and verse numbers. These were added centuries later for convenient reference. However, some might not be aware that there are actually many competing reference schemes for dividing the Bible into books, chapters and verses. Take this snapshot by way of example:
In the LXX (the Greek version of the Old Testament) Esther 5:1a is Esther 15:2-15:4 in the KJV. The use of letters here (as in 1a) indicates that this material is in the Greek, but not the Hebrew, edition of Esther, which added material the Latin translators moved to the end of the book. The English tradition of versification more closely follows the Latin in Esther, thus accounting for the radically different chapter number. But it gets more complicated than that: there are differences between the Latin numbering and the English, so Esther 15:2-15:4 in the KJV is Esther 15:5-15:7 in the Latin Vulgate. But after Vatican II there was a concerted effort to make the Vulgate follow the older Greek and Hebrew traditions more closely, so the Nova Vulgata, or New Vulgate, numbers that section as Esther 5:2a-5:2c. But to make matters worse, the LXX numbering we use today comes from the Stuttgart edition, but the numbering in the older Cambridge edition edited by Swete and several other, older editions follow a different LXX numbering. They designate Esther 5:1a as Esther D 2 – D 4, introducing the use of letters as chapter indicators for the Greek additions.